MYCROFT HOLMES is beautifully written and full of intrigue...while still managing to be a lot of fun.- Robert Towne, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Chinatown./ Moving beyond the echo of big-time basketball's cheering multitudes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has found an unlikely second career in the quietude of a writer's life. In his latest literary effort, he indulges his longtime appreciation for the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and gives us a rousing mystery novel featuring Sherlock Holmes' older and smarter brother, Mycroft, while launching a new series of adventures. - Gay Talese, acclaimed author, A Writer's Life. / I'm proud to have worked with Kareem, my friend of many years, on this project! It adds an exciting, new dimension to the life of Sherlock Holmes, and Kareem's passion for history has given the story a new twist. - Leslie S. Klinger, Editor, Baker Street Babes./ Basketball legend Abdul-Jabbar (Black Profiles in Courage) makes his triumphant adult fiction debut with an action yarn that fills in the backstory of Sherlock Holmes's older and smarter brother, Mycroft. In 1870, the 23-year-old Mycroft, who has a reputation as a daredevil, is serving as a secretary at the War Office when word reaches London of a series of unusual deaths in Trinidad. Someone, or some thing, has been killing children and draining their blood. The locals believe the culprits are supernatural beings known as lougarou, who drain children of their blood, and douen, who leave highly unusual footprints near their victims. The tragic news stuns Mycroft's fiancee, Georgiana Sutton, who immediately sails home to Trinidad. Disobeying her request to stay behind, Mycroft follows Georgiana to Trinidad, where he must exercise his intellect and his innate diplomatic skills to solve the crimes and remain alive. Sherlockians who relish the screen adventures of Cumberbatch and Downey will be particularly entertained.- Publishers Weekly (starred review). / Abdul-Jabbar, a Holmesian since his college days, joins forces with Waterhouse, his cowriter on the documentary On the Shoulders of Giants, to offer a rousing mystery starring Sherlock's older (and smarter) brother, Mycroft, a rising star in the British government. The action begins in 1870 London but quickly moves to Trinidad, where Mycroft's closest friend, Cyrus Douglas, a native of the island, must travel to investigate what some believe is an infestation of douen -tiny supernatural characters who lead children into the clutches of werewolf-like lougarou. Mycroft joins his friend for the trip, and what the two find on arrival -after a near-fatal ocean crossing-isn't supernatural but far more harrowing: an elaborate scheme to bring slavery back to the Caribbean. The authors hit all the right notes here, combining fascinating historical detail (on Trinidadian culture and folklore, on tobacco importation in London, even on the development of the Gatling gun) with rousing adventure, including some cleverly choreographed fight scenes and a pair of protagonists whose rich biracial friendship, while presented realistically, given the era (Douglas must sometimes pose as a butler), is the highlight of the book. Yes, Douglas is a sort-of Watson, but a much brighter, more physical, more bantering version, an equal not a foil. Mystery fans will be eager to hear more from this terrific duo, who may well develop into a gaslit version of Robert B. Parker's Spenser and Hawk. - Booklist (starred review)./
